US automakers on track to meet GHG standards

The US EPA recently released a Manufacturers Performance Report that assesses the automobile industry's progress toward meeting GHG emissions standards for cars and light trucks in the 2012 model year.

The
US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) recently released a Manufacturers Performance Report that
assesses the automobile industry's progress toward meeting
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for cars and light
trucks in the 2012 model yearthe first year of this
14-year program.

The
report reveals that consumers bought cleaner vehicles in the
first year of the program than the 2012 GHG standard required,
and that automakers are off to a good start in meeting program
requirements.

The data show that in model year 2012, the industry reduced
tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions, and also used the
optional flexibilities built into the standards.

Those
flexibilities include emissions credits for improvements in air
conditioning systems, and a system that allows transfer of
emissions credits from year to year, and among
manufacturers.

The
standards flexibilities also allow greater emissions reductions, lower
compliance costs, and more consumer choices, all while
providing manufacturers with options on how and when to make
reductions.

Since
the program has a multi-year structure, the EPA will not make
formal compliance determinations for the 2012 model year until
2015. EPA will be closely tracking progress towards compliance,
and it intends to issue annual Manufacturers Performance
Reports on the program.

The trend toward more efficient, cleaner cars and trucks
continued in model year 2012. According to EPA's most recent
Fuel Economy Trends Report, fuel economy improved by 1.2
miles/gallon (mpg) in 2012 compared to 2011, the second biggest
improvement in the last 30 years.

Furthermore,
in 2013, there were twice as many sport utility vehicle models
that achieved at least 25 mpg, and seven times as many car
models that achieved 40 mpg or more, compared to five years
ago.

The GHG emissions standards are projected to cut 6 billion metric
tons of greenhouse gases over the lifetimes of vehicles sold in
model years 20122025more than the total amount of
carbon dioxide emitted by the US in
2012.

The standards are also projected to save consumers who
purchase a new model-year 2025 vehicle more than $8,000 in fuel
costs over that vehicle's lifetime.

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